Politics

LA prepares to get two report cards this week

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Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti will give his first State of the City address on Thursday at the California Science Center.
Grant Slater/KPCC

Alice Walton|April 7, 2014

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti will give his inaugural State of the City address on Thursday, but before that happens, the blue ribbon 2020 Commission will release its recommendations of what L.A. can do to be a prosperous city in the 21st century.

One year ago, just before L.A. voters elected a new mayor, city council president Herb Wesson created the 2020 Commission to examine the city's financial status. He named former Commerce Secretary Mickey Kantor and former City of L.A. jobs czar Austin Beutner to lead the panel.

Earlier this year, the commission issued a report that painted a bleak picture of Los Angeles. The panel found there is crisis in leadership and direction in the city.

The report stated: "Government relies on the public trust to function. When such big gaps occur between what government tells us and reality, ordinary citizens lose their trust in democracy."

Mayor Eric Garcetti had little to say about that report.

On Wednesday, the 2020 Commission will propose solutions to the problems it identified, including what the city can do to create jobs. That report will come one day before Mayor Garcetti gives his first State of the City address at the California Science Center.